


Smile

by MackaroonieAndCheese



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: A lot of characters in this one lol, Angst, Angsty angsty angst, But majority of them just appear once then thats it, But with a happy ending this time, M/M, Sad times ahead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-16 10:54:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11251656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MackaroonieAndCheese/pseuds/MackaroonieAndCheese
Summary: Brock Ritter, senior high student. A photographer with dreams to grow up to be one and actually earn from it.Brian Hanby, just someone who helped Brock when he was in trouble.





	Smile

**Author's Note:**

> Im in tears over how long this is.

Brock made sure he had everything packed up for the day.

His textbooks. Notebooks. Any other materials he would need.

He looks at his desk, and there sat his trusty camera. That he would always carry around with him to school.

He’s the photographer for the school paper. So why wouldn’t he carry it around?

Other than being a photographer, he carries it around because he likes taking pictures of his friends. He likes making memories and keeping them. Treasuring them.

“Brock! Hurry up! We have to go already!” Brock hears his mom yelling from outside his room.

“I’m going!” Brock yells back, grabbing his camera and bag then rushing downstairs. Brock takes a look at the lenses, making sure it was clean. His camera was just a Nikon D3300. There are better cameras, but as long as it gets the job done. Gets nice shots. That’s all that matters.

He gets in the car, his mom in the driver's seat. And they drive off. “Bringing the camera again dear?” his mom asks.

“Yep!” Brock happily says.

~~~

“Bye mom!” Brock exclaims as he got out of the car. Then proceeds to enter the building.

He didn’t see any of his friends waiting for him at the doors like usual, which worried him at first. But didn’t mind later on, he assumed they were either already there or just running late.

He quickly searches for his first class which is Science. But as he was running, he bumps into someone and falls.

“Sorry.” he mumbles, then looks up to see someone he didn’t want to see. A bully. One of the few bullies of the school. “I-I’m really sorry!” Brock exclaims in a panic.

“Tough guy huh? No boyfriends to protect ya?” Darren, the bully, says intimidatingly. He doesn’t go around in a group. Because he alone is frightening enough.

“N-none of them are my boyfriends!” I half-yell in defense.

“You do **not** raise your fucking voice at me. You remember who I fucking am right?!” he yells. But by now Brock is in fear. Unable to move. By now, he’s also attracted attention.

He can’t find his friends anywhere. Worry and fear gradually grow in him.

“What?! Nothing to say?!” he’s even angrier now. Brock just slowly backs away, not wanting to fight. Darren just chuckles sinisterly. “Oh what’s this?” he says, grabbing the camera from Brock. “Oh right, you’re the photographer. I wonder, would be such a shame…” he says, raising the camera up high. “if someone… drops it.” with those words, he drops the camera on the ground, breaking it.

“No! My camera!” Brock exclaims, grabbing the camera from the ground. He hears Darren chuckling, walking away.

The lens have been smashed. So has the screen. The flash fell off. Bits and pieces of metal and the camera are everywhere.

Brock picks up what he can and runs to the restroom. He hides in a stall, and cries.

“What did I do to deserve this?” he mutters, crying his heart out. He was about to miss first period, but decides not to care at that moment.

“Hello?” he hears someone call, an Irish accent lacing his voice.

“Wh-who are you?” Brock replies, his voice weak and quivering.

“No one special, anyway… shouldn’t you be in class right now?” he says.

“F-for starters, I’m Brock Ritter. And I know I should be in class and all that. But… my camera’s broken because of an asshole…” Brock says sadly.

“Alright, well, I’m Brian Hanby. And I think I remember you from a few of my classes. We can head to the next one together if you want to?” he offers.

Brock smiles, then opens the stall door to see a male with shining bright blue eyes.

And Brock fell for him almost immediately. But he knows too well, he can’t fall for him. He doesn’t want to. Because he’s scared.

“I’m here to keep you safe. Let’s go!” he says, holding out his hand towards Brock.

Brock takes his hand and Brian pulls him up, and smiles at him. “Thank you.” he says softly, but loud enough for him to hear.

~~~~~

_(2 months since they both met)_

Brock has been spending a lot of time with Brian whenever he could. And the guys would always ask him the same thing during lunch period. “Do you like him?”

And every single time. Brock would always instantly respond with “No.” without hesitating or such.

He only does that because he feels like he has to say so. Maybe it’s because he fears that one of them will run to Brian and tell him. But then again, maybe he’s overthinking this. Because they’re all his friends after all.

The bell rings, and Brock leaves the guys to be and heads for his locker to gather his things for the next class.

That’s when he discovers a pastel green envelope in his locker, he takes it out, as well as his needs for his following class.

He then rushes to his class, not wanting to be late. He takes his seat and takes a look at the envelope. It has the words “For Brock” written nicely on the back. He opens the envelope, a letter inside.

He wonders for a moment who could’ve left it. Then he assumes the only other person who it could’ve been.

**_Brian._ **

He takes out the letter, unfolds it and reads.

_‘Hey Brock. You probably think it’s me, Brian. And you’re right. I didn’t have time to meet up with you today and I’m so sorry for that. But I had classes and I also had tests to study for. Ehemcramehem. And I was also arranging shit. And I have so much to say. But I can’t fit it all into this one letter. So would you please meet me at the back of the school when the day’s over? I have something to give you. From one of your bestest (I’m aware that’s not a word), Brian Hanby.’_

Brock rereads the letter over and over before the teacher comes in for the class. But then he also wonders why had Brian avoided him in class.

_Just like the letter says I guess, he was just busy. That’s it._

Brock passes by this day as usual. Brian, avoiding him the entire day. Brock even tried to approach him in the library but he decided not to and wait for time to pass instead.

Once school ends, Brock rushes out of the building and heads for the back of the school.

Checking from time to time to see if anyone had followed him. Thankfully, there was no one.

He gets there just a tad bit too early. Because even Brian himself wasn’t there yet. So he sits down on the grassy ground and takes out a book from his bag and reads while waiting.

While reading, he realizes nearly half an hour has passed and he still wasn’t there. It worried him.

_What if he forgot about me?_

_What if it was actually just a joke?_

_What if he’s been hanging out with Darren and his group?_

_What if I’m just looking like an absolute fool now?_

Question after question were popping in his head. Then he finally decides to gather his belongings and leave the area.

That’s when, as he turns the corner. He bumps into someone. Causing both of them to fall down.

Brock looks up and was about to apologize,  but quickly shuts his mouth upon realization to who he bumped into.

“Brian?” he says quietly.

Brian rubs his head and looks up at Brock. “Oh shit. Brock I’m so sorry I was late.” Brian says quickly pulling himself up then helping Brock up.

Brock takes a look at Brian and notices a possible reason why he’s late.

He has a tissue plugging his nose. A black eye. Bruises on face. There could be more than just that. He wouldn’t know because Brian’s wearing a leather jacket and jeans.

“What happened to you?” Brock asks worriedly.

“Nothing… it was nothing. You don’t have to worry about it alright?” Brian tells him.

Brock lightly touches the bruises on his face. “Brian.” he speaks up a bit more seriously. “What happened to you?”

He flinches at Brock’s touch, and Brock pulls his hand away. Brian hisses lightly.

“Sorry.” they both say at the same time. Then both chuckle.

From afar it would seem as if they knew each other for years. Like it was two best friends just talking. Yet they’ve only fully known each other for two months.

“Oh right! The reason I wanted to meet up with you here.” Brian exclaims.

Brock sighs. “Brian. Don’t change the topic. Please tell me why you’re hurt.” Brock says pleadingly.

Brian sighs and stops rummaging through his bag and looks up at Brock. “I got into a fight. Is that what you wanted to hear? I got into a damn fight. It was Darren and his cronies. They were spitting out shit about you. And I just can’t stand that, Brock. I don’t take people who says shit about my friends behind their backs lightly.” he explains. Tears nearly evident in his eyes.

“Let’s head to my place, why don’t we? My parents have work tonight and it’s a weekend. Sleepover maybe? How about once we get to my place, I fix you up, you can give me what you were going to give, and we can spend the night playing video games.” Brock offers Brian and smiles.

Brian finally brings out a smile and nods. “Yeah. That’d be nice. So let’s go then!” Brian happily exclaims.

~~~

Both of them settle down in Brock’s room. It’s only Brian’s second time here. Because almost every other time he’d be invited. He wouldn’t go because of either school or his parents.

“Hey Brock, I’m gonna call my mom first. Tell her I’m here and stuff, to not worry her.” Brian says leaving the room pulling out his phone.

It takes a few rings before his mom finally picked up. “Brian dear? Where are you? It’s getting late! I’m worried sick about you!” she quickly exclaims.

Brian chuckles lightly. “I’m fine mum. I’m just at Brock’s house, gonna spend the weekend here. But I’ll be back Sunday afternoon.” he reassures her.

He hears her sigh on the other end. “Be safe there, honey alright? Bye bye, I love you Brian.” she says.

Brian smiles, thankful that she isn’t making him head home for once. “Thanks and I’ll be fine. I love you too mum.” he says then hangs up, he heads back into the room to see that Brock has set up Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the both of us to play.

“Was she okay with it?” Brock asks, concerned.

Brian nods, “Yeah. She was pretty cool about it actually.” he tells him.

“Well that’s great! Now, ready for some Mario Kart? Cause I’m gonna get first this time!” Brock exclaims and laughs.

Brian melts silently hearing Brock’s laugh. It always gets him. He then shakes his head, shaking off the thought. Shaking off even the thought of the possibility of being with him as more than friends.

“Oh come on Brock, you know how well I play Mario Kart.” Brian taunts, smirking.

“Oh you are on Brian!” Brock exclaims.

~~~

Three hours have passed and they have had dozens of matches. But Brian has gotten first once again. Brock being third.

Brock puts down the controller and stretches and yawns.

“Aw, tired already?” Brian teases.

Brock pouts, “No I’m not. Anyways, it’s been a few hours already. What were you going to give me?” he asks.

“Oh yeah! The thing I was going to give you!” Brian happily exclaims and rummages through his bag.

He pulls out a black box with a bow on top. He hands the box to Brock who looks at him, confused. “Go ahead, Brock, open it.” Brian urges.

Brock pulls off the cover and leaves it on the side. There sat two different boxes. Both consisted of cameras. Brock notices that it’s a Canon 5DS R and a Nikon D750.

He looks at Brian, stunned by what he’s been given. Brian, on the other hand, has a wide smile on his face.

“Is the both of these really for me? Brian… why? I’m sure that this costs like a hell lot, didn’t it?” Brock says tearing up at the sight of the two cameras.

Brian rubs the back of his neck and chuckles nervously. “Well, when we first met. You told me the shithead Darren broke you’re only camera. And I noticed that you’ve been using your phone’s camera to take pictures. So with part of my own savings. And convincing my parents. I was able to get you both of these.” he says, smiling.

Brock carefully puts down the box and quickly hugs Brian, tears streaming down his face. “Thank you so much for these, Brian. God, no one has ever done something like this for me. And I thank you for that.” Brock says.

Brian hesitates, then hugs Brock back, smiling with so much joy. Glad that he made Brock happy. Glad that he gets to see Brock smile.

“You’re welcome, Brock. Because you deserve this. After all you are the school photographer. And my best friend.” Brian tells him then pulls away. He chuckles and wipes away Brock’s tears. “Hey now, don’t cry alright? I’ll always be here for you. To protect you.”

Brock lightly chuckles, “I’m glad we crossed paths.”

“Same here.” Brian replies.

‘I love you.’ Brock wanted to say but couldn’t.

~~~~~

_(7 months since they both met)_

Brock puts his tuxedo on for the night. Making sure he looks fine and well-dressed and proper and stuff. He grabs his Canon 5DS R and his phone.

He heads downstairs to see his mom waiting for him by the door. “Oh honey, you look dashing. If only your father was here to see this.” she tells him.

Brock frowns at the thought of his dad. Brock never knew him. Not well enough at least.

“Brock, smile. This is your last year in high school. Make it count. And take those pictures!” his mom encouragingly says to him 

Brock smiles a bit, “Yeah. Thanks mom.” he says.

Then pulls out his phone to see that Brian has called him. He answers the call.

“Hey Brock! You ready for tonight?” Brian half-yells over the phone.

“Yeah I indeed am. And I can tell you’re pretty excited as well.” Brock says and chuckles.

“Hell yeah I am! Anyways, I’m almost there. Tyler and Craig are here too.” Brian says.

“Hey Brock!” Craig yells in the background.

“Tell Craig I said hi.” Brock says, “And should you really be calling while driving?”

“I’m not exactly holding my phone, my head is tilted while the phone is on my shoulder. We’re almost there!” he happily exclaims.

“Well I can’t wait!” Brock says as Brian hangs up.

His mom on the other hand, was looking at him with a wide smile on her face. “Who’s this “Brian” boy, dear?” she asks curiously, still smiling.

“Oh. Him, Brian Hanby. My best friend. I’m also spending the night at his place, which I forgot to tell you.” Brock happily says.

“Do you have a crush on this boy? Because you have talked about him an awful lot.” she says with a chuckle.

Brock immediately blushes, “No! Yes! Maybe…” he quickly exclaims.

“Oh that’s great Brock! I’m just glad to see that you have a crush on someone. I just want to see you happy. I don’t care what gender you love. Seeing you happy is all I care about.” she says, smiling.

Brock smiles and hugs his mom, “Thank you so much, mom. You’re definitely the best person in my life… next to Brian of course.” he says and chuckles.

Brock feels his phone vibrate and he pulls it out.

_Ttterroriser: Yo Brock! We’re here. Like right outside._

After reading that message, I hear loud honking coming from outside.

“Bye mom!” Brock exclaims as he heads out the door.

“Have fun alright? And message me when you get to Brian’s place!” his mom exclaims and sighs.

“Hey guys!” Brock says sitting up front with Brian.

 “God, I’m nervous as all hell.” Craig speaks up. “Tyler, are you sure I look fine? What if someone bullies me about how I look? I don’t want to get bullied… no more.” he suddenly sounds extremely worried.

Tyler chuckles softly, “Calm down dude. I’ve got ya. Stop worrying so much. Plus, I’ll beat the shit out of anyone that messes with you.” he reassuringly says.

“He’s right, Craig, you need to calm down. We’re here to have a fun night. So calm down a little bit. And don’t worry too much.” Brock says.

Craig sighs, “Says you, you’re gonna be busy most of the night right? You’re the photographer after all. I can’t believe they didn’t bother on finding a photographer for the night. I mean like, you also need the night.” he says.

“Yeah well, it’s my job. Difference is that I don’t get paid for it.” Brock says. “At least I think I don’t.”

“Well, you should still take a break from time to time and hang with us and the guys. I mean come on. Final year and all that shit!” Brian exclaims proudly.

“Oh right, it’s my final year with all you shitheads.” Tyler says and laughs.

“We really gotta make this night count huh?” Brock says.

“Fuck yeah!” the other three men yell in unison.

~~~

Not long after, they arrive at the venue. The school gym. Brian parks the car and the four of them walk into the gym together.

They catch sight of Evan, Marcel, Scotty, Jonathan, Bryce, Luke, Smitty, Satt, Ryan, Anthony/Jiggly, John/Kryoz, Daithi, Lui all on one… wait no, two round tables that have been pushed together.

Brock didn’t know that was allowed, but he knows the crew have their ways. To Brock, the two tables pushed together looks really fucking weird, so he was glad that he didn’t have to sit in the middle-ish of the tables.

Evan is wearing his signature color, red, tux with a blue tie. Jonathan, being opposite to Evan is wearing a blue tux with a red tie.

Ryan is wearing a light gray tux and a black tie, he was also tempted to wear his signature bandanna, the one that bears a black omega symbol but decided not to for the sake of formality. Bryce, on the other hand, is wearing a purple tux with a yellow tie. Which Ryan found him to look quite dashing in.

Smitty, now this man, is wearing an all white tux. Even the tie is white! As if he already had enough white with his hair but oh well. He’s also wearing his signature red and blue glasses. John on the other hand is just wearing the usual simple black tux with a red tie.

Luke, like Evan, is wearing a red tux. Difference is, his is more of a deep darker shade of red. Which suit him well. Satt, well, he’s wearing a dandelion shade tux with an orange tie. Call him weird, but he himself and his friends thinks he looks good in it.

Marcel is wearing a sky blue tux with a navy blue tie. As if there already wasn’t enough red on the table, Scotty is also wearing a red tux, but it stands out more being a brighter shade of red with a black tie.

Daithi, on the other hand, is wearing a dark green tux with a black tie to match. Lui was the one that looks like shit--- I mean, Lui’s wearing a brown tux with a tan-colored tie.

Now for the group of four that arrived together. Mini is wearing an orange tux with a black tie. But if you just look a tad bit close enough on his tie, it has the words “I live for dank memes” on it. But it’s not THAT obvious. Tyler, oh god Tyler, is wearing a bright-ish pink tux with a dark pink tie. Yeah that’s it really.

Lastly we have Brock and Brian. Brian, as you probably have assumed, is wearing a tux in a shade of red called maroon. And just a simple black tie to match. Brock, oh Brock, is actually just wearing a plain black tux but with a light green tie.

So, Brock decided to sit in between Craig and Brian, because why not. And why the hell wouldn’t he sit with Brian.

Then came by Mr. Montoya. The assistant principal of the school. He, along with the principal Mr. Sark, is the kind of person that’s serious and fun when he needs to be.

And tonight is the night he’s a fun and cool dude. “Hey there everyone! How’s everything going so far?” he asks.

“It’s fucking great! Hell, the student council did good with decorating the place this year!” Jonathan exclaims, and Evan… blushes?

“Well good thing Evan Fong here is the president of the student council then. And Brock! Make sure to take those shots! And I don’t mean alcohol. I mean pictures.” he says with a chuckle.

“You got it Mr. Montoya! How about we start now? I’ll take a picture of you with the crew.” Brock offers. Adam smiles in response.

“First picture by the official photographer of the school!” he exclaims and stands in the middle of the two tables.

Brock holds out his camera and backs away from the table, adjusting his position, adjusting the focus of the camera making the background blurry as an effect of sorts. He makes sure his hand is steady and the flash is on.

‘It’s in the photographer not the camera’, it’s a quote he always remembers and lives by from a seminar he had been too way back.

“Smile everyone!” Brock says, the crew and Adam smile brightly as Brock takes the picture. Two pictures to be sure.

Once finished, he decided to take the first look. Surprisingly, it looks really good. In his opinion at least. He shows it to Adam and he smiles at it. “Keep up the good work Brock!” he exclaims then leaves and heads back to where the other teachers are seated.

Brock looks back at the crew and sighs, “Well. I guess I have to go now. But I’ll be back in a while. Bye guys!” he says then walks away to take pictures of other groups of people at their tables. He also takes pictures of the venue as well, the staff, the stage. Everything.

 

~~~

Brian scoots over to sit beside closer to Craig and taps on his shoulder. “Um Craig?” Brian says.

Craig stops his conversation with Tyler and turns around to face Brian. “Yeah Brian?” he asks.

“I need your help. Do you think Brock likes me as more than a friend? Like does he have a crush on me?” he asks curiously.

Instead of answering him, Craig bursts into laughter. Brian looks at him confused. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I thought it was obvious already.” he says, his laughter slowly dying down.

“I’m sorry what?” Brian questions, confusingly.

Craig quickly put on an ‘Are you fucking for real?’ face and sighs, “Brian Brian Brian. First of all, don’t you realize how much he loves spending time with you? He tries to make every second that has you in it, count. He won’t stop talking about how much of an amazing person you are to me. He’s like, really scared of losing you as a friend. He doesn’t want you to disappear from his life. Because of what I’ve noticed, he’s been more lively and happier and most especially **safer** after he’s met you. So take what you want from that man.” Craig explains, smiling as he said all of that. Then he goes back to his conversation.

Daithi was currently performing, on-stage, a few of his original compositions. And by the looks of it, everyone was loving it.

Brian started looking around the area, trying to catch a glimpse of the ever-smiling Brock Ritter. And he does, after looking around for a while. He’s taking pictures of Daithi on stage.

Brian sighs heavily, sad that Brock hasn’t stopped by for a while. He’s been taking pictures since after Adam told him to do so.

But just his luck, Brock walks over to the table waving at the crew. Brian just smiles at him. Brock smiles back, and there’s that feeling Brian has again. It wasn’t butterflies. No it was different. It wasn’t nervousness. He can’t exactly point out what it is.

“Hey guys.” Brock says, sighing heavily. “I took a fuck lot of pictures. So I’m pretty sure I can take a break until the next set of performers.”

“Well that’s good. You deserve a break, Brock.” Brian tells him.

“How has the night been for you so far? You been spending it well with the guys?” he asks.

“The night’s been alright. Can’t believe it’s almost over though.” Brian says wanting to add in ‘But it would’ve been way better if I had spent it with you the entire time.’ but couldn’t.

“Yeah same here. Being a photographer this year was the most difficult yet. Since they didn’t have anyone else, I had to attend all the school events during the entire school year.” Brock sighs.

“Well at least this is technically the final night you have to do this?” Brian questions, unsure if he has to do this at one of the end programs the Seniors have to do.

“The Senior End-Year Program, remember? The dance numbers, the jazz chant performances. Fuck, our next few weeks are going to be only practices too remember?” Brock groans, then rubbed his face and kept his look focused. “But I want to make this year count before heading off to college and shit.”

Brian chuckles softly at what Brock says, “Well then stop with the fucking complains and do it. Do your best and make everything you do, count. Besides, the crew’s all graduating this year too. As a group, we’d all be doing our best.” he tells Brock, hoping it’ll calm him down from the approaching stress.

“Yeah. You’re right. We’re all going through this together. Of course it’s going to end well.” Brock says, pulling off a smile.

“That’s better Brock! Seeing you **smile** rather than seeing you frowning or sad.” Brian says, chuckling.

“Well,” Brock says standing up with a sigh, “I have to get back to taking pictures.”

“I’ll see you later then.” Brian says then Brock walks away which leaves Brian to sigh heavily.

~~~

For Brian, the night seemed as if it went by faster than expected. Craig and Tyler both decided to hitch a ride with Brian and Brock again, because why the hell not right?

Tyler had also offered Craig to spend the night at his place to mostly play video games. But then, this is also the night he wanted to admit his feelings for Craig.

Sadly, Craig declined the offer to stay the night, probably because he wanted to collapse in his own bed for the night, and said that he’d head over tomorrow. Which disappointed Tyler, but he later shrugged it off.

They all decide to drop off Tyler at his place first since he wanted to be dropped off first. Yeah that was really the only reason, but no one denied it so there they headed first.

Most of the ride to Tyler’s place consisted of talking about games to be released later in the year. Games that they plan to play over the weekend, like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or Golf It with the rest of the guys. Or even just some GMod.

Brian pulls over at Tyler’s place, a decent looking home that just looked a tad bit bigger than the rest.

“Bye Tyler! I’ll see you tomorrow!” Craig says happily.

Tyler sighs, but smiles anyway. “Yeah I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye you fucks!” he says and waves as the other three drive off.

~~~

“Just a few blocks forward then we’re at my place! Finally!” Craig exclaims happily.

“Hey Craig? Just curious but… do you by any chance have a crush on Tyler?” Brock asks, looking over his shoulder to face Craig.

Craig blushes at Brock’s question. “Me? A crush on the biggest and most well-known school jock, Tyler Wilde? Are you fine?” he nervously says, chuckling nervously as well.

“You know it’s kinda very obvious, right?” Brian says.

“You’re just too oblivious to see that he actually likes you back.” Brock says, turning back to face ahead.

Once again, Craig has an “Are you shitting me?” kind of face. “Oh like you aren’t!” he exclaims.

Brock looks at him, confused as to what the hell he’s talking about.

They were all too concentrated on the fact that this is the way to end a year, with a happy night they had at the party.

To concentrated that they didn't notice the truck that crashes into them at the intersection. Making their car spin out of control and turn around until it flips over and goes off the road.

~~~

Brock groans in the immense pain and reaches for his phone, the screens damaged so much. But he can still make out the text on the screen.

He immediately calls for Tyler, “Tyler…” he weakly says, “Call… call 911. Please… we’re… at the intersection… crash… car…” he manages to say but each word just making him weaker. Each word he spits out just tiring him, wasting him of what strength he has left. He can’t even hear what Tyler is saying, he drops his phone. Too weak to keep it by his ear any longer.

Brock turns over to Brian, who dealt more damage since it was his side of the car the truck had hit.

He tries to turn over to face Craig, who was struggling to even keep his eyes open. He was sitting on the same side Brian was.

Both of them is having it much worse than Brock.

"Brock. Brock w… we're g-gonna be fine. It’s… it’s okay." Brian manages to say through the immense pain he's in, shattered glass both stuck in him and scattered everywhere else. Who knows what else has gotten lodged into him. Who knows how much pain **he’s actually in**.

Brock knows, Brock clearly knows... it's not gonna **be fine** . He can see just how badly injured Brian is. His side of the car **did indeed** take more of the hit.

"Brock pl... please. Whatever happens, always **smile** for me." Brian says, his eyes slowly closing.

"No no no! Brian stay with me! We're gonna get help, and you're gonna be fine!" Brock yells at him, despite the amount of pain he's also in.

He hears Craig groaning in pain.

Both Craig and Brock were forcing themselves to stay up.

**The pain was unbearable.**

And off in the distance, he could just make out someone yelling for their names.

But it was too late. Craig passes out first.

Then Brock. He couldn't do anything to keep himself up just a bit longer to see who the man calling for them was.

Then he let it all consume him. The darkness. The never-ending pain. Everything.

~~~

Tyler didn’t feel like heading inside his home just yet. He just doesn’t. He isn’t sure why. But he looks up at the sky and sighs.

“What if he doesn’t really like me back? What if I’m just running into a wall? Fuck, I’m so stupid.” he mutters to himself.

The front door opens behind him, he turns around to see his mom looking at him confused.

“What are you still doing outside? Why didn’t you come in yet?” she asks, concerned.

“I don’t know. I feel like something is fucking wrong.” he states.

“Is this about Craig?” she asks, sitting down beside him. He hesitates for a moment, but then nods at her question.

“Well what’s the issue there? Wasn’t he supposed to head over as well?” she asks.

Tyler sighs heavily, “I don’t know if he likes me back. And he said he’d head over here tomorrow instead of sleeping over tonight.” he explains.

She smiles at her son's words. “Tyler, calm down. Craig is a delightful boy. I’m sure he likes you the way you like him. You just have to have the confidence to tell him.” she tells him encouragingly.

Tyler smiles a bit, “Yeah. Yeah you’re right. Thanks m-” Tyler gets cut off as he receives a call from someone.

He takes out his phone to see that it was Brock. He doesn’t question it any further and answers it.

“He-” Tyler speaks but almost immediately gets cut off by Brock who sounded as if he was in **_pain_ **.

“Tyler…” he hears Brock weakly says, “Call… call 911. Please… we’re… at the intersection… crash… car…”

Tyler immediately panics. “Brock?! Brock stay with me! Where’s Brian and Craig?! Goddammit!” he yells.

He starts crying, his hands shaking as he struggles to call 911.

“Tyler? Tyler honey, what’s wrong? What happened?” his mom worriedly asks.

“They… they got into a car crash. Mom. Mom please be the one to talk to the operator. They… they’re at the intersection up ahead. I… I need to go check on them.” he stutters, handing her his phone. Then breaking into a sprint.

He stumbles a bit but doesn’t fall. His mind too set on what’s ahead. His mind is too set on wondering how bad his friends took the hit.

“Brock! Brian! Craig!” he yells over and over. There. Almost there. He sees a truck that’s stopped on the road. He runs faster to see the car just a bit further off the road.

He pants heavily, slowing down. “I can’t stop. I can’t stop. I can’t stop.” he repeatedly mutters to himself.

He starts to break into a sprint again, yelling for the names of his friends to the top of his lungs.

“Almost there.” he mutters then continues to yell for their names.

He continues to pant heavily as he approaches the car that lays on the field upside down, with glass scattered everywhere.

He struggles to get the door open, and once he does. He carefully drags Brock out of the car and lays him down on the ground.

He heads to the other side and does the same for Brian and Craig.

He lays Craig’s head on his lap and looks at him. His glasses are broken, his head is bleeding.

Tyler carefully laid Craig’s unconscious head on the ground and he just sits there. Waiting for an ambulance.

He cries, he cries quietly to himself. Because he wishes this hadn’t happened to his favorite people in the world, other than his family of course.

Then there it was.

The sirens.

But Tyler couldn’t and didn’t want to move away from his friends that lay down unconscious on the ground. He was too busy crying his heart out at the sight of them.

“Sir? Sir will you please get up.” he hears someone say. But he didn’t bother. His mind was too focused on wondering if they’ll be fine or not.

~~~

Brock groans loudly, he opens his eyes to see only light above him.

He shuts his eyes, and slowly opens them. He turns his head to the side and waits for his vision to focus.

He sees both Marcel and Bryce on chairs, just chatting with each other.

“Mar...cel? Bry...ce?” he speaks, but quickly shuts his mouth afterwards after feeling a bit of pain in his throat.

They both glance at him and has a look of shock all over them.

“Holy shit you’re up! Thank fuck!” Marcel exclaims, tearing up. Which isn’t surprising because both of us have been friends for years.

“Brock… hey… it’s really good seeing you up.” Bryce says, smiling.

Brock gulps, hoping that he can speak better now. “Where are… Brian… and Craig?” he asks them.

Then a depressing aura takes over the room. Both Marcel and Bryce’s smiles fades and turns into a gloomy look.

“They’re… not up yet. They haven’t woken up yet. Tyler, he’s… he’s so broken about Craig. The nurses and doctors try to make him leave. But he’s spent almost every night here.” Marcel explains.

**Almost every night.**

The words struck Brock like the car crash. (Too soon? Oh well.)

“How… long has it… been?” Brock asks, looking back up at the ceiling.

“5 days maybe by now.” Bryce says. “Your mom wanted to stay here, and we let her. For the first three nights. Then I urged her to go home and rest properly. And that we’d tell her if anything happens. Which means, I should call her. At the same time, I’ll go get a doctor.”

And with that, Bryce leaves the room.

Only leaving Brock and Marcel in the room. Marcel sighs and takes a seat.

“Practices have been going well by the way. And Evan told Mr. Montoya about the accident, and he’s excused you four from the practices and said that he can manage with the rest of the Seniors.” Marcel says.

Brock looks at him, confused. “Four?” he asks.

Marcel nods, “You, Brian, Craig and Tyler.” he says.

‘Tyler as well huh? I guess… I guess that seems reasonable.’ Brock thinks.

“What if I’m let out by next week or so?” Brock asks.

Marcel sighs heavily, “I’m sure Mr. Montoya would prefer you rest at home. And the rest of the guys would prefer that too. But of course, we’d all head by with some snacks and movie to end the day.” he says, smiling a bit.

Brock pulls off a smile, “Yeah. I’d really appreciate that. But maybe I’ll be staying here most of the time. By Brian…” he says.

Marcel shakes his head and sighs once more, “If it makes you happier to be by his side. Then fine. But Bryce, Ryan, Scotty and I are still going to come visit. Evan, Jon, Smitty, and John would be helping out Tyler and Craig.” he explains.

Brock nods, “I hope they wake up soon.”

~~~~~

_(2 weeks after the incident)_

Brock walks in the room, not really expecting him to be up. Brian’s been in a coma for about close to three weeks by now. Same with Craig.

But all of them, are hopeful. Hopeful that they’ll wake up soon.

“Hey Brian.” Brock says, taking a seat, but not really expecting a reply. He opens a bag of chips he bought. “School’s been fine. Not the same without you though.”

He sits back and sighs, “I probably seem crazy right now. I don’t know.” he says quietly to himself.

He grabs his camera that he left sitting on the table. It was one of the ones that Brian got him. It was the Nikon D750, it was his camera that he would just carry around to take random photos throughout the day.

He flips through all of them one by one. A lot of them were of Brian happily talking with someone. A lot were also of the crew together at lunch or the library.

Brock sighs, setting the camera aside once more and glancing at a comatosed Brian.

“Please wake up.” he mutters silently, grasping Brian’s hand.

~~~~~

_(1 month after the incident.)_

“It’s been one month, and he’s still not up.” Brock sadly says, feeling as if he’s going to cry. But he doesn’t want to lose hope. He has to keep going, for Brian.

“Brock, don’t cry. Come here.” Bryce says, pulling Brock into a hug. “Calm down. It’s going to be okay.”

“I-I mean… Craig woke up already. Why won’t he?” Brock sobs, his tears staining Bryce’s shirt.

Bryce pulls away from Brock, placing his hands on Brock’s shoulders and looks at him. “Calm down, okay? You can get through this.” Bryce tells him.

Brock sniffs and wipes his tears.

“F-fine…” Brock says.

Bryce pulls out his phone, checking the time and sighs, “I have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Bryce says.

Brock waves him goodbye and faces Brian’s unconscious body.

Then he hears someone enter behind him.

“Hey Brock…” it was Marcel.

“How you been Brock?” there is Scotty.

“Hey you two.” Brock sighs, not taking his eyes off of Brian.

“You doing alright?” Marcel asks. Brock turns around to face them both.

“I don’t know at this point guys.” he tells them.

“You planning on telling him after he wakes up?” Scotty asks.

Brock sighs, “I don’t know. Maybe? Should I?” he questions.

“You should. And I’m pretty sure he has a thing for you as well.” Marcel says with a chuckle.

Brock looks at him in shock. “Does he really?” he asks, a smile starting to form on his face.

Scotty smiles, and nods. “Yeah. I’m sure he does.”

~~~~~

_(2 months after the incident)_

“Hey…” a soft voice calls.

Brock groans, and looks around to see no one. But then glances at the bed.

To see him up.

“Br-Brian!” he yells, crying.

“Hey Brock…” Brian weakly says, pulling off a smile.

Brock quickly and carefully hugs Brian, still crying. But they were happy tears.

“H… how long has it been?” he asks.

“T...two months. Two whole months without my best friend.” Brock says, pulling away and wiping his tears. “I’ll go get the doctor.”

And with that, Brock leaves the room. With Brian alone, looking up at the ceiling. Just… thinking.

“Two months…” he mutters quietly

~~~

“...he can leave tomorrow.” the doctor tells them, smiling.

“Okay, thank you so so much.” Brock says to the doctor. He nods and leaves the room.

“Well, maybe it won’t be that bad when we get back.” Brian positively says.

“Your left arm is casted. And Craig’s in a fucking wheelchair.” Tyler says.

“I’ll probably be out of it by next week, Ty, chill why don’t ya.” Craig says, laughing.

Brock chuckles, glad to have all his friends together and alive.

~~~~~

_(Years after high school and college)_

“Today’s the day.” Brock mutters to himself, grabbing one of the 4 cameras he currently owns. His old Nikon and Canon cameras that Brian gave him all those years ago just resting on a shelf. As an antique of sorts.

His phone rings, confused, Brock picks it up.

“Hello?” Brock asks.

“It’s Jon! Where are you?” Jonathan yells from the other end.

“I’m about to go. Calm down. There’s still a few hours before the wedding. I still have time to take photos. Plus, I live nearby the venue remember?” Brock says, chuckling.

“Well- well you better hurry up still!” Jonathan exclaims sounding panicky.

“Calm down. Luke and Bryce will be there for you.” Brock says trying to calm him down.

“Alright. Fine. Just hurry up!” he exclaims.

“I’ll be there in a while. Bye Jon.” Brock says and hangs up.

He has to suck it up and go. Even if Brian has a girlfriend. It’s his job, as a photographer, to take pictures of everything necessary after all.

Brock remembers their final year in high school. He couldn’t do it. Sure both Scotty and Marcel were encouraging him to push through with his confession towards Brian.

But now he’s with Lanai. His girlfriend. But who’s to say Brock to say he should be jealous.

All he can do is be happy that he’s happy. Even if he’s internally dying with pain that he can’t be with someone he really loves.

He both regrets and doesn’t regret not admitting to him all those years ago.

But there’s no going back on that now. Brian had even told Brock that he plans on proposing to Lanai soon. Not sure how soon though.

He quickly brings down his equipment and properly stores them in the trunk of the car.

The ride didn’t take long. Five minutes at most. He takes a deep breath as he got out of the car.

“You can get through this.” he mutters to himself.

~~~

_(Later at the reception)_

Brock shares laugh with the crew. Glad that he’s reunited with them after a busy week.

But he notices something odd. Brian hasn’t said much to any of them, even after the wedding.

He looked down. Brock was hesitant at first to approach him. But it seems like all he really needs right now, is a friend.

Brock takes out his camera, holding it tight in his hands. He realized something, he hadn’t taken a single shot of Brian yet.

He walks over to the gloomy Brian who was just looking down on his plate.

He focuses the camera so it would focus on Brian. “Hey Brian.”

Brian looks up at Brock, momentarily confused. “Huh?” he responds.

“Smile for me why don’t you?” Brock asks, smiling behind the camera. Brian pulls of a somewhat smile and Brock takes the shot.

He looks at the photo and frowns then looks up at Brian. “What’s wrong?” Brock asks, sitting down on the empty seat beside Brian.

“It’s so fucking obvious how fucking pathetic I look right now, isn’t it?” he says, sighing in frustration.

“I’ll go tell Jon we’re headed to the balcony.” Brock says, quickly returning after informing Evan and Jon that they would leave for a moment.

Once they arrived. Brock looked up at the sky. And admired how it looks. All the stars that scattered across it. Making the sky look like a true work of art.

“What’s wrong?” Brock asks again.

Brian groans and rubs his face frustratingly. “It was Lanai, Ms. Vixen in other words, you remember her right?” he says and Brock nods. “Well. Just as I was about to fucking propose to her. I come home to her being fucked by someone. Literally. And she’s the one who gets mad at me?! How is it my fucking fault?! It makes no fucking sense!”

Brock steps back in case Brian’s flailing arms accidentally hits him. “So what happens now? She tried to reason with you?” he asks, carefully choosing his words.

“I broke up with her, what else could I do? I gathered everything I owned. Consoles. Clothes. My laptop. Headphones. Money. Anything. Then I left as soon as I could. For now, I’m staying at a hotel until I can find a place to stay.” Brian says, he looked as if he was about to cry.

Brock hugs him tightly and mutters, “I’m sorry.”

Brian hugs back, crying. His tears staining Brock’s tux.

Brian pulls away, “Why are you sorry?” he asks wiping his tears.

“For never admitting.” Brock simply says, about to start crying as well.

“Wh-what?” Brian asks.

“Senior year of high school. Scotty and Marcel… they told me I should’ve confessed to you the moment… the moment you woke up. But I couldn’t bring myself to do so.” Brock says, quickly wiping away any tears he would shed.

“I…” Brian starts but gets cut off by Brock.

“I love you Brian Hanby. I still very much do. I’m still not over you. Even if you were together with Lanai. I couldn’t bring myself to move on. I couldn’t find someone else like you. You were special. And I knew that the moment you helped me up when my camera was broken by the dickhead called Darren.” Brock explains.

“I… all those years ago. I never was able to gather courage to confess to you either. But then we separated for college. We went our own separate ways. And I found Lanai. I thought she was the one. Not until yesterday of course. Christ, I know what I lost now. It was you, Brock. I missed you. Your company. Everything about you. But Lanai was consuming my life when I got together with her.”

“So Brian, one thing I have to ask you. Will you-” Brock gets cut off as Brian smashes his lips against Brock.

Brock blushes and kisses him back. He’s glad, mostly because he’s kissing one of his biggest crushes yet. And including the fact that he actually likes him back.

Brian pulls away and smirks at Brock. “I love you.” he says.

Brock blushes and smiles. “I love you too, you dick.” he says.

“Let’s go tell the guys now why don’t we?” Brian asks, smiling. Offering Brock his hand. Brock smiles and takes his hand in his own. They walk back inside the venue. Feeling new.

Marcel glances over to Brock and Brian to see them both smiling and holding hands. Marcel wildly claps and cheers for the two of them. Brock looks down embarrassingly.

“TOOK YA’LL SHITS LONG ENOUGH.” he yells. The crew laughs at his actions while some of the other guests look at him as if he was a crazy man.

Scotty, on the other hand, was trying to get him to sit down and calm down. Brock and Brian chuckles.

“Well. I guess it’s obvious that we’re dating now.” Brian says proudly.

“FUCK YES. YOU SHITS FINALLY GOT TOGETHER.” now Craig is the one that’s yelling. Meanwhile Tyler just sat there, facepalming wondering how the hell he can calm down his man.

“Craig, please sit the fuck the fuck down.” Tyler mutters to Craig.

“When’s the wedding?” Evan asks, smirking.

Brock blushes, “Evan what the hell! It is way too fucking quick to get married already! Christ! We just started officially dating!” Brock exclaims and Brian smiles and kisses him on the cheek.

“I bet on Brian proposing within 3 years.” Jon says to Evan, smirking.

Evan grins, “2 years tops.” he says proudly.

“ARE YOU GUYS SERIOUSLY BETTING ON HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE FOR THE PROPOSAL?!” Brock exclaims embarrassingly. 

~~~~~

_ (Years after Brian and Brock got together) _

“Breathe. Brock. Breathe. You can do this.” Brock mutters to himself.

“Brock? You ready?” Bryce yells from outside.

“Yeah!” Brock replies. “Today’s the day.”

~~~

“EVAN YOU OWE ME A HUNDRED BUCKS AND A DINNER IN A REALLY COOL PLACE.” Jon exclaims loudly.

Everyone laughs at him, not in a bad way of course. But in a really good friend way.

“Fucking fine. Can’t believe you were right. And I can’t believe you waited until now to say it.” Evan says.

“Well that’s because that’s how I want to be remembered.” Jon simply says, as if he hasn’t just yelled to the top of his lungs.

“By looking like a delirious person at our reception?” Brian asks, taking a sip of his drink.

Jon faces Brian and winks, “It’s in the name after all. But yeah, I guess that could count.”

Thus, the night goes on as normal. Once the reception ends, after they had settled everything, the crew leaves to an arcade just for old times sake. The moment it was around midnight. They decided to call it a night and go their separate ways.

Brock and Brian head on back to their own homes.

“Hey Brian?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For reaching out to me when no one else could. For being my support, as I am yours.”

“I couldn’t just leave you there in the stall. If I didn’t decide to speak up. We wouldn’t be here right now. I would’ve been lost. I wouldn’t know what to do. I wouldn’t have met the true light in my life.”

“You’re going to make me cry.”

“Well good. I do my best to try to be as sappy as I can be.”

“One more thing.”

“What is it?”

“I love you so much, Brian Hanby.”

“Well... I love you as much as you love me, Brock Hanby.”

**Author's Note:**

> HEY HEY HEY.
> 
> HOW'D YALL LIKE THAT ENDING HUH?
> 
> It makes up for the car crash scene at least, am i right?
> 
> No?
> 
> ...okay then.


End file.
